Global Domination

Saturday, February 8

Windows XP and why Windows Update doesn't like working

As far as I can tell, in a few months there'll be no more support from Microsoft for Windows XP. I don't know if they'll even leave Windows Update running. Until they turn it off though, here is a quick bit of advice on how to go from a fresh install of Windows XP Home (specifically service pack 3, though it may be all versions) to a fully updated one.

There is a problem if you don't do this as described below. Essentially the computer will almost freeze when running Windows Update. The CPU shoots up to 100% on a process called SVCHOST.EXE. This hogs all resources and Windows Update fails. The root cause is something like this.

There is some weird interaction between the latest security updates, the "automatically install updates" option, and Windows XP.

It's made worse if you have the automatic check for updates on, but it doesn't go away if you turn it off. The system hogs resources.